By Xinhua
Gaza : Hamas on Tuesday rejected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ accusation that the Islamic movement gave Israel a pretext to hinder the peace process when Hamas took over Gaza Strip by force last June.
“This is a desperate attempt to free Israel from the responsibility of the peace process failure,” said Hamas lawmaker spokesman Salah al-Bardaweel. “We don’t consider that there is a peace process.”
“When Abu Mazen (Abbas) felt that he had failed, he could not blame Israel and turned to shoulder the weaker side, Hamas, the responsibility,” al-Bardaweel added.
In June last year, Hamas fought and routed pro-Abbas security forces in Gaza Strip and seized control of the impoverished territory, separating it from West Bank where Abbas formed a western-backed government.
According to al-Bardaweel, it was “Abbas and his team who staged a coup against the Palestinian Authority (PA) by rejecting political partnership with Hamas” which won parliamentary elections in 2006.